


Pages of our story

by LastoftheFlowers



Category: Tales of Zestiria
Genre: Canon Compliant, Eventual Romance, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Post-Canon, Pre-Canon, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-01
Updated: 2020-10-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:48:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26234425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LastoftheFlowers/pseuds/LastoftheFlowers
Summary: Short stories depicting a life together, apart and together again.
Relationships: Mikleo/Sorey (Tales of Zestiria)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 37





	1. Page one

(Remember when we had no fear or sense of time?)

He could say quite confidently that something has been different lately. He couldn't say he knows when it started, but definitely knows _when_ he noticed.

There was a day that started just like any other; he had been woken by the flickers of light that were creeping across the room that would eventually grow into a radiance that filled Elysia. Tea was first. He let a weak trickle of water leave his fingertips and fill a brass teapot about halfway, before going to his cupboard and finding a blend of tea to suit his mood and putting a spoonful or two into the water. Then using some flint that Sorey has found for the village he lit a small flame on the wooden stove.

Ah, it would be nice to know what it felt like to light a fire with artes.

The sounds of sparrows were starting to fill the morning air, but the village was still only being kissed by the sun. It was still very early. Sorey would certainly not be awake yet. So he sat down with a book and drank tea until he felt it was a reasonable time to wake Sorey.

Not before long, he found himself outside his friend's quaint house with a cup of hot tea that he brought safely with him using his ability to keep the water still, and lightly pushed the door open.

Of course, this oaf is still sleeping. Sorey was sprayed across his bed, arms and legs nearly filling the full capacity of it. If he gets any taller, he would have to sleep on the floor!

He gently placed the tea down on the table that was closest to the bed and then turned to his sleeping friend.

"Sorey"

...

"Sorey" he said a little louder. And yet the dead lay sleeping.

Yes, it was a day like any other. Which is why he found the changes in Sorey so untowards during that time, it was something he wouldn't understand until much later on.

~

They spent that evening engrossed in books, which was one of their many shared hobbies, inside Sorey's little room. With the candles burning in various locations to keep light for them to read without straining their eyes. Mikleo was sat across from Sorey, cross-legged and with his head buried in a book about the changes of weather in the southern regions of the world, which caused a great issue in the finding of resources that could be found for creating new architecture.

Then he felt this phantom feeling of feathers touching his forehead, lightly moving across his brow when he noticed his hair move out of his vision. He glanced up to see a familiar face, with his hand reaching out in front of him, touching Mikleo's hair.

He lingered his glace a few more seconds before he was going to ask Sorey what he was doing when Sorey himself burst out.

"You need to c-cut your hair Mikleo!” it was a statement expressed a little louder than he usually would, but came with all of Sorey’s bright smiles and warmth that was what Mikleo would call very Sorey.

However Mikleo couldn’t help but frown at the way Sorey's blush began to spread across this face, watching him quickly pull his hand away and bury his face back into the book that he was reading. Sorey was very rarely embarrassed. Why in the world was he blushing?

"You won't find me letting you cut my hair, Sorey" he commented before going back to his book. He was sure it was nothing he needed to worry about at this moment. Sorey would always reveal his true intentions in the end.

"Sorry, I just remembered that I had to go somewhere" The other boy had jumped up and already left for the door.

"Huh?" Mikleo was confused. Naturally, he began to stand himself to follow.

“No, no... you stay here. I don't want to disturb your reading" Sorey protested before Mikleo had even stood up. He then flashed one of those innocent smiles at him, which gave him that warmth again. He let him go without saying anything, just raising an eyebrow to indicate to his friend that he was finding him very capricious this evening. Mikleo begins to wonder if he should be offended, eyes lingering on the door that Sorey had closed behind him.

_Idiot._

~

After that, it seemed like something had changed.

He would start to notice more of this unusual behavior from Sorey. He would notice how their usual digs and play fighting would always end in their eyes locking just a little longer than they used to. Sorey's fingers would intertwine with Mikleo's after a tickle fight. A hand that Sorey would put on Mikleo would linger there.

None of these things seemed to actually bother Mikleo, though. He might have even said he enjoyed the additional comfort they gave him.

Sometimes he would catch Sorey staring at him. There was this look on his face that he had never seen on him before. Was he... Sad? There were even times Mikleo found himself unable to ignore these things, and he would find himself blushing uncontrollably which he would, in turn, have to promptly try and hide from Sorey. He wouldn’t have him thinking he was so easily flustered.

He thinks about this a lot recently. He always felt he understood Sorey, yet this... Was something he didn't understand. He feared he was slipping away from his lifelong friend and he was finding it more and more difficult to burden.

This song and dance went on for some time.

It went on until the day when he finally realised what was happening between them.

A day just like any other. Those comfortable days that he and Sorey shared over and over again. A variation on the same thing but with that blissful feeling of forever which Mikleo knows he had grown too attached to.

They had done some chores for Gramps; washed some clothes and then to the Aroundlight forest during the mid sun to gather fresh leaves and nuts for food later on that evening, and eventually, after some pestering from a certain excitable someone, they went down into the Mt. Mabinogio ruins to keep exploring that particular pathway that they had recently discovered.

Light filtered through cracks in the outside structure, creating lines across the room. It was a very large room all things considered and it has the most intricately carved walls.

"Mikleo" he heard his name being called from behind "what do you think of this?" Ah, so Sorey had already found something.

He strolled over to his partner in action, to inspect the discovery with him. Sorey's excitement could be seen in the way his eyes shone at the sight of what was in front of them. Mikleo saw that there were three raised stones inlaid into more stone, almost like…

"They are buttons, right?"

"Yeah, they sure look like it"

"So they could do something… like unlock a door, open a secret pathway, trigger a-”

_Trap!_

Sorey's hand brushed too heavily over the stones, causing the opposing wall to rubble and then fall down in front of them. Mikleo grabbed Sorey by the arm and pulled towards himself and away from the stone wall that slammed to the ground with a racket.

Dust blew up into the room, creating a hazy look which made it hard to see, but he was still in one piece.

"Sorey?!" Was his immediate thought.

"...yep, still alive" he heard a sheepish reply coming from just below him. He let go of the breath he had been holding and then noticed that his back against the floor, and the weight of Sorey on top of him. The dust started to clear, and he looked down to see his friend's face looking back at him, unharmed.

Sorey shifted himself slowly, when Mikleo winced, himself noticing that he had hurt his side in the fall, but he didn't have much time to focus on that when he found himself in very close proximity to Sorey. The other boy had his arm draped over him, and his chest leaning on top of him. He suddenly became aware of how warm Sorey’s body was.

A slightly calloused hand gripped one of his wrists, more notable heat.

“Sorey… you’re heavy” Mikleo frowned at the brunette boy who was currently making life difficult. Yet he was completely unaware of how precarious a life Sorey was about to make.

Sorey was now leaning over him, looking across Mikleo’s face, eyes seeming dark in this shadowed hallway. He faltered a little, meeting those eyes, before he tried to call out and wriggle from under the situation, but was cut short by Sorey’s weight pressing down further and lips meeting his own.

Mikleo felt frozen despite all that warmth. Sorey’s lips were pressed against his, he could feel smooth skin touching his own, warm breath trickling along his face, chestnut locks of hair brushing against his cheeks.

He breathed in deep and could smell Sorey’s scent.

Then he panicked, the one thing he felt he could do at that moment, and pushed the larger boy off from him with considerable force.

“Wha... what are you doing?!” he shouted at his friend, much more than he intended, but his confusion and embarrassment of the shared intimacy had thrown him out of his usual composure.

He couldn’t even look at Sorey long enough to wait for a reply, so he scrambled up off the floor and hurried to escape from this moment.

“Mikleo,” he heard Sorey's departing plea “please wait”

He was sure that would be chased, so he started to run. He ran until he reached the surface of the ruins, across the fields of Elysia until he entered the village, and ran back to his home. Entering and closing the door immediately behind him, he couldn't even take another step inside so he just turned around and leaned against the front door.

His mind was racing back to the memory between his ragged breaths. He couldn’t stop the images flooding back to him, the feeling of it. He smothered his heated face with his hands to try and make them stop.

 _Breathe_ , _Mikleo_ , _breathe_.

After moments that didn't seem to want to end, he slid to the cool stone floor, still leaning against the door. He felt more composed now, sure enough.

He touched his lips deliberately as if trying to feel those lips on his once again.

“Sorey…” the name dripped out as if it had been waiting on his tongue all this time.

_Idiot._


	2. Page two

(You feel like home)

He will always remember the following day, as it was the day that made him the importance of their friendship, and that he could always be fried by his Grandfather if he took things too far. Which he now knows he most definitely would.

"SOREY!!!"

The distinct crack of lightning ripped through the intensely blue skies of Elysia.

Sorey's eyes clenched as he threw his arms over his head. Words tried to escape his lips to retaliate but it was a futile attempt.

"What did I tell you not to do?" Gramp's rage was crackling around the room, but it surrounded Sorey and did not touch him, as it was merely there to scare some wits into him. Gramps would never really hurt him.

"I didn't think much of it-" was his retort before he was interrupted.

"Idiot! Of course, you didn't think. You can't just go around kissing who you like."

"B-but, it was just Mikleo... I'm sure he will understand" Sorey frantically tried to get a word in edgeways .

"Consent, Sorey!" A prick of lightning did hit his arm, causing him to flinch and cower back again. "It's called consent!"

_So, yeah... maybe he was going to get hurt a little._

Zenrus took a long and thunderous look at him, then eventually softened, as did the air around them.

"You fool Sorey. That is exactly why you shouldn't. Mikleo is the closest person to you, I understand, but he is young. Very young… and things are not quite the same for Seraphim."

Sorey relaxed and listened to his Grandfather. He wasn't sure if he agreed. Mikleo was the closest person to him, so he would always understand what he was thinking. That was their bond.

“Relationships are tricky business, Sorey” Gramps continued, now more solemn than angry.

“It’s not tricky with me and Mikleo. It’s always easy with us” Sorey started, he wanted to explain his feelings out loud “Recently… I have been feeling things differently, a warmth deep inside me, and I know it’s Mikleo that makes me feel this way,”

He finds himself studying the hard wooden slats of flooring, starting to wonder if anybody would understand how he felt. It was times like this that he could feel the rift between himself and his Seraph family. His last conversation with Gramps went a similar way, talking of feelings and impulses, stuff he didn't quite understand but knew all too well how they felt.

“I guess I just don’t know what to do about it”

“Pah, humans are an emotional mess” Was his Grandpa’s reply, who was now pacing around the room ”but it’s normal…You are not a child anymore, I should have expected this to happen at some point. ”

Sorey felt the weight that had been to be bearing down on his being lift, and his whole body flew up as his eyes met Gramp’s.

“Really?! is this normal?”

“Now, just wait a minute Sorey”

Sorey leaped around the room in excitement, before another word from his Grandpa stopped him.

"Sorey, just remember that these kinds of emotions could complicate things for you and Mikleo. Take care with him, he as not as strong as he appears" Gramps when on looking carefully at him through wispy white eyebrows.

Sorey nodded as if he understood, but looking back to this moment, he was still just as clueless as to when it began. After another long and arduous conversation, he found himself coming to the agreement with Gramps that he will apologize to Mikleo and make this whole thing right again. When they had finished, he went outside to see the sun had already begun to set and the sky, with the rosy colours fading into darkness.

His feet itched to go running straight to Mikleo, but instead, he ran home. Tomorrow will be for the best. Getting inside he threw off his shoes and jacket, then collapsed on his bed. He just lay there thinking about all the things he was going to say to his dearest and closest person when the morning came.

He felt hopeful.

~

The next few weeks didn't exactly go as planned.

He tried his best to trap Mikleo into a situation where he would listen, but the seraph was surprisingly agile and evaded him at every turn. Every time he would try to find him, Mikleo was always out on errands, always busy with someone else, always somewhere where Sorey was not.

And just to be known, he had already apologised 16 times.

Swearing to never be so irrational again, he cursed himself for getting into this situation. Over the last few weeks, he had plenty of time to himself to think about their life here in Elysia and their precarious situation. He often imagined how their life would be together in the future. Together? Yes, he always thought they would be together as it was impossible to imagine a time where they would be apart.

Perseverance was the key here. Mikleo wouldn't stay mad at him forever, surely?

He inwardly groaned to himself, as he was talking idly around the outskirts of the ruins. Unable to bring himself to go inside, as he could not enjoy exploring ruins without Mikleo. He was getting a to feel a little less hopeful, now. His mind was just tumbling thought after thought, but he could not find any reprieve. He missed his friend terribly.

He was as far to the edge of Elysia’s green plains as he could go, with the blue hue of the sky covering the hidden world below, pacing back and forth over a wall that was so old it was crumbling into the mountainside. He jumped from the ancient wall to a cluster of sandstone panels, and hopped between each, using the exercise as a way to stop thinking. He didn’t really want to think anymore.

With his last jump, he landed slightly unsteady and felt the floor give in beneath him and crumble. He fell into darkness.

It felt like almost a lifetime before he heard his saving grace.

“Twin flow!” Echoed across the tunnel he was falling through, and then he felt a familiar embrace of water that guided his fall so that he landed softly on his feet. Instantly he looked around to find the one he knew was responsible for saving him and found that he had landed gracefully behind him. He instinctively stepped towards him, to try and close the already small gap between them.

“Luzrov Rulay” the words came out of Mikleo’s mouth like a confession, but it didn’t sound like any confession he had heard before.

“Huh?”

“That’s my true name,” Mikleo went on to explain, his almost glowing violet eyes meeting Sorey’s for a brief moment, before flickering off to look elsewhere. He was pretty when he was embarrassed. “I-I just want you to know, in case you get into trouble again.”

Sorey didn’t quite know what that meant at that particular time, he had many _many_ questions, but all he could focus on right now was that he had his friend back. He couldn’t help but throw his arms around the lighter one in delight, squeezing him probably a little too tightly.

“Thank you, Mikleo” Sorey spoke quietly.

He could feel Mikleo’s nose press into his neck and his breath down his chest. The sensation started a flutter in his stomach, which only alleviated his mood further.

It was a few more minutes before there was a sarcastic retort.

“Just give me a warning before you try to kiss me again”

He gently pushed the light-haired boy away, even knowing he must have the stupidest smile on his face because he could not control his reaction, then he nudged him in the side getting a devious smile from Mikleo who gave him a dig in the ribs in return.

"Don't worry, I'll be more careful next time."


	3. Page three

Mikleo knows he is being overly neurotic, but sometimes he has dreams that he wakes up in Elysia and Sorey is gone. He frantically searches for him in all his usual hiding places but he is nowhere to be found.

When he actually wakes, his heart pounding in his chest and his thoughts fearful, lingering from those dreams. 

He pushes back the hair from his forehead to get some cool air, it helps calm as he regathers himself. Then does what he does every time he has this dream, he goes and finds Sorey. Because in reality Sorey is not actually gone and very likely sleeping soundly in his bed, but you can never be _too_ certain of anything.

__

Mikleo quietly opens the door to Sorey's house quietly and closes it just as quietly behind him. Then he tiptoes over to where the untamed boy was sleeping, half in and half out of his thin woolen blanket. He does his best to creep into the large bed.

__

As soon as he gets under the covers he is hit by that warmth that he is sure can only be emitted by Sorey. He was quiet enough tonight to not even cause a stir in his friend, so he makes that a win for him. Mikleo lay very still with his head on the soft pillow, watching the ceiling and listening to the steady breathing of a sleeping Sorey. 

__

He unwillingly starts to think of things that he knows he shouldn't. He shouldn't be thinking of them as it is of no help to anyone to get so worked up about these things. But the reality is that one day he _will_ lose Sorey and that burns away at him, making his chest fill up with smoke and leaves him feeling like he's gasping for air. 

__

He reaches around the bed until he finds Sorey’s hand, then carefully laces their fingers together.

__

Sorey stirs a little and Mikleo looks over to him to see if he wakes, but he doesn't this time. His eyes linger on the younger boy, observing his peaceful face with adoration. It was amusing to think that if Sorey woke up now, Mikleo would blush and turn beetroot in colour, falling over himself with embarrassment. He was certain his naive friend had no idea he did this as much as he did, and he would not be letting on to this fact any time soon. No way he would admit to _this_ weakness.

__

He gently rolls over to allow his free hand to card through the dark unruly hair of Sorey. He had a lot of thick hair, a pain to keep tidy, but he likes it nonetheless. One of the many differences between them that he enjoyed. He did this for a few minutes whilst emptying his mind of the previous negative thoughts and filling them with these more cherished, happier ones before he placed the hand on Sorey’s shoulder and closed his eyes to rest.

__

His last thought before he fell asleep was of his friend smiling and very much still here next to him.

__

__

(Your waves are too big and I am falling asleep)

__


	4. Page four

  


_ Your benevolence couldn’t be mine alone. _ That was something Mikleo had to repeat to himself when he felt like the blanket that was his world had been pulled out from under him.

But yet, this was  _ their _ dream.

He held out his arm to his friend, and waited for his partner to reciprocate.

He looked into his face, and gave the best performance he could. A small supporting smile should suffice, although he knew he was now made of glass and the slightest drop would see him shatter. 

Sorey’s eyes looked like they could see right through him now, too.

He returned the smile and touched his wrist to Mikleo’s.

“Thank you”

  


~

  


(It's hard out when your heart's made of glass) 

_ “I will wait for you” _

  


Those words rattled around Sorey’s head, making him almost delirious, feeling like an empty bottle which a note was trapped inside that he desperately wanted to get out.

“Ah…” The tired noise of his squire came from behind “I am just about ready to collapse” 

Rose was stretching herself about, then he noticed the others were just leaving their bodies to join them.

“Time for bed, Children” Edna’s seemingly cherubic face, which just never fails to give her permanently ironic narration.

“That sounds like a plan” Rose smiled contentedly at the thought of it. She turned to Sorey and raised an eyebrow at him, as it appeared that he did not have the intention of stopping just yet.

“I’ll be there very shortly”

He flashed as good a smile as he could give at Rose, her piercing blue eyes very likely saw something wrong with him, but she only smiled back and bid him Goodnight.

Mikleo however gave him a questioning eye, lifting his eyebrow to perfectly display how he would want to know why Sorey clearly wanted to be alone now, but he would not ask him here. He waved them off as they walked to the inn. Even Lailah’s disapproving tone of him being alone when she told him to take care being out alone.

The sky was black generously splashed with white now. Only ruined by the dim lights of the streets he was walking up. He walked wherever his legs were taking him, which seemed to be his favourite point of the city.

He sat down gingerly, feeling weary but also trying to not just collapse to a heap on the ground.

The words still rang, louder now that he was alone. He knew his resolve, that would not change… but he couldn’t help but feel guilt creeping into his mind like a spider coming out of a dark corner. 

The truth was that he never wanted Mikleo to wait for him at all.

He had read his fair share of romantic novels to know that waiting was a dangerous game. And the thought of Mikleo being driven mad by waiting for an unknown amount of time for him to return, is a difficult thing to shallow. That was certainly the cause of the guilt. 

He looked down at the still bustling city below. The yellow glow of lights shone from windows, and a few people could be seen still walking the streets. Even at this hour, humans still prattled on with the mundane and merry alike. Even at a time like this, humans would carry on.

He looked down at the crest on the back of his glove, a wave of determination rippled through him like a current. The Shepherd was going to be the one to protect this world, protect the life that he knew these humans will strive to live for.

_ Sigh, _

_ Mikleo... _

He stood around a little longer taking in all the sights he had come to know, before deciding it was time to head to the in for some rest.

  


~

  


“Where were you?” Milkeo said in that serious tone as he opened the door to his room at the inn. His lavender eyes became an icy warning “I was starting to think you had gone off on to find Heldalf on your own”

“Heheh” Sorey laughed off his anger, trying to poke him a few times in the side before collapsing onto the invitingly soft bed in front of him.

“C’mon, you know I can't save the world without you guys” Sorey explained calmly, and truthfully.

Mikleo had no reply just yet, but he could hear the released sigh and tapping of his foot slowing until it finally stopped. It was at this point Sorey would have liked to have heard his friend’s sarcastic retort in the way that Mikleo did and he loved.

But it did not come.

Sorey looked over at Mikelo who was now quietly closing the door behind him and beginning to unbutton his tunic in readiness for sleep. The whole time Sorey watched, Mikleo seemed to not be looking at anything in particular. He was looking restless. Not really knowing what he could do to make his friend feel better, he sat up and began to take off his Shepherd's robes and prepare himself for sleep, whilst flicking through his brain for ideas.

They continued in silence for a little while longer, before Mikleo sat on the edge of the second bed in the room and looked directly towards him. He could now just about see the anguish in his friends eyes with the small amount of outside light that came into the room.

Sorey had never wanted more than to run to Mikleo and hold him and never let go. 

But instead, he tried to choose his actions wisely. He rolled over and patted his hand on the now free space on his bed, inviting Mikleo to sleep close by that evening. He could see the slight hesitation in his friend, but it didn’t take any extra convincing for him to change his mind. Mikleo moved over and lay down next to Sorey in one fluid movement, using his upper arm as a head rest.

Sorey could feel his heartbeat race, as it always did whenever Mikleo came this close. He inched ever closer to him, and cautiously draped his free arm over the smaller boy’s waist. To his surprise, and elation, Mikleo moved closer still until they were entangled in an embrace of sorts.

He held Mikleo like a flower that might be crushed if he squeezed too tight. The seraph’s feather light hair floated over Sorey’s jawline with each breath they took, causing a ticklish sensation. He felt that hair brush along his lips that added sensitivity to the feeling that made him smile instinctively. Closing his eyes, he drew in the familiar scent of Mikleo, which brought a sereneness like he was floating in cool waters. He categorically embedded this moment in his along with all the others, in hope he never forgot them.

Without thinking, he leaned down and pressed his lips to the circlet which remained on Mikleo’s forehead still, lips pressing against metal and hair and skin. He soon realised what he was doing he decided to slowly, reluctantly stop before he upset his friend any more.

Time passed before Mikleo shuffled and moved himself back from Sorey, just enough to lift his head, but not enough to stop feeling the closeness of his body. Sorey could now see some faint lines of tears that had streamed down Mikleo’s delicate face. The guilt he had been feeling now hit him like a punch to the chest.

Mikleo slowly brought his lips against his own, the anticipation of the wait and the teasing of the lightest, softest touch made Sorey’s head spin. If they weren't lying down he was sure he would fall to the floor.

Not wanting to push his luck, he held himself back and allowed Mikleo to move the kiss further. Sorey was exhilarated to feel Mikleo press into him like they would melt into one another and Armizite at the next possible moment. Hands met each other and Sorey could feel Mikleo's other hand delicately trace lines through his shirt and up his neck where it stopped and he felt a thumb slide across his throat.

Sorey finally gave in to his urges and pushed back their entwined fingers into the pillow behind Mikleo's head, before he lifted his leg and rolled over to be lying on top of him, pressing their thighs together. Their kisses now were slightly clumsy and desperate, and they found they had to stop for breath between them to stop them from drowning. Mikleo’s hands were grabbing at clothes and pulling down on the back of his neck making this a slightly more difficult feat.

Sorey was the first one to stop, through barely breaking away from the other, noses still brushing, still breathing each other's air. He had to stop now before he couldn’t stop at all. Knowing the pain and suffering that lay ahead was enough to make this beautiful moment melancholy. 

No words were spoken, as Sorey had always known it to be unnecessary. They already knew what this moment meant to eachother. 

Mikleo would keep reaching up to tenderly kiss the side of Sorey's lips, his cheek, his jaw, still so feather light. And Sorey would try his best to evade them without really doing so. Just his own futile attempt.

This continued for a time frame between a few minutes and eternity, this dance of intimacy that felt like the closeness that was so much like them, but nothing like what Sorey had ever felt before. It continued until Sorey finally laid his head to rest somewhere between Mikleo’s collarbone and the bed below them, before drifting to sleep.

The next morning Sorey was awakened by Lailah, gently rocking him to rouse him from his slumber. 

He slowly opened his eyes, then used his arm to feel around for the person who slept under him the night before, but regretfully found he was alone.

“Morning Sorey” Laliah’s lullaby voice was enough to send him back to sleep “Mikleo has already left to meet the others”

Sorey blushed lightly as he pushed himself upright, knowing that Lailah must have seen how close the two friends were from the night before. He avoided her glaze.

“I’ll be out in a minute.” 

He squinted in the bright morning light that surrounded the city, and before his eyes even adjusted he saw Mikleo’s silhouette in the distance, seemingly talking to Edna.

That pang of guilt came again. Though the cause of guilt he felt now would be different. He knew he would want to experience that moment again. And he hoped that Mikleo would wait for him forever. 

  



	5. Page five

(As time goes on...)

“What do you mean, love?”

Mikleo questioned the tanned and muscular seraph that was sat directly opposite him with a large glass of amber coloured liquid in his hand. They were in one of the many pubs that were now dotted around Pendrago. This one was particularly cosy, and he found himself spending a little more time here than he probably should have, but alas.

“Oh Mikky boy, you know what love is” Zaveid’s face shone with that mischievous glow of unabashed perverted talk.

Mikleo scoffed at him.

“Don’t bring me down to your level” he replied.

Zaveid threw his head back and laughed wholeheartedly, spilling his drink a little. When he stopped, he took another sip of his drink before he spoke again. 

“No, no, seriously. Love isn’t all about that… it’s about that feeling you get when you have found someone you can spend your life with, through the good, the bad, the downright difficult, and still come out on the other side liking them as they are.”

_Is that so?_

Mikleo sighed out loud shaking his head and running a hand through his now lengthy hair. If this carried on, his heart could shatter into pieces and fall to the floor, and he doesn’t know if he would be able to pick them all back up again. He took a very large gulp of his own drink before looking down into it.

“So I just need to hold out and keep waiting” He eventually spoke, but it was not as much a question rather than a statement.

“Don’t count the days, Mikleo” Zaveid’s tone was different, not teasing as it usually was. Mikleo looked up from his drink to see his comrade’s face. He stared out of the window next to them, amber eyes glazed over as if he wasn’t really looking at anything at all. He knew that look all too well.

“It will drive you mad” was his final resolve.

Mikleo hummed thoughtfully looking back down into his glass, it was nearly empty. 

So, he wouldn't count the days then.

~

It was another time to rest, he had returned to Ladylake to visit some old friends. The city had changed somewhat over the centuries that had passed since he first stepped foot here. It was much grander than it had been, with more and more buildings towering over them and bustling with even more people. There was still that canal of water that ran alongside the streets, which now had sprawling markets of people selling all kinds of things. that canal ran all the way to the Great watermill, which he always like very much. 

He eventually sat down to people-watch, at a particular bench that overlooks the lake itself. It was something he found himself enjoying over the years. People, both human and seraph alike, were strange.

He found a couple, tenderly touching each other as they spoke. He couldn't hear the conversation, but he could tell that it was a light-hearted affair. They then both leaned in for a kiss that looked both tender and filled with feeling. He thought of Sorey. 

Desperately trying to get rid of that thought, he quickly looked away. Taking in the sights of the serene water of the lake, he quelled any wretched images as he tried to pull his emotions back down to replicate the calm of those waters. He wasn't confident at how successful he was at that task.

It was times like this when he remembered that first kiss. 

It remained in his memory forever it seems. That silly moment, which seemed such a traumatic thing at the time, now feels fond. Ever so fond.

 _Love, eh?_

Looking back at the little life they had together, he couldn’t really say anything as definitive as the changing their relationship. It was always going to be the ever-changing, ever-flowing thing that was a relationship between two people. How they cared for each other never really changed, just the way they would express it. Whether it was a shared joke between friends, a caring hand between brothers, or a kiss between something more, it was all the same feeling to him.

Sorey meant everything to him, it was something he grew more and more certain of as time went by. And he certainly couldn’t imagine feeling this way about any other. No-one else knew him so completely, or trusted him so thoroughly, or who loved him so tenderly.

Yet he was alone right now. Alone, with just those fond memories to keep him company, but even then he could feel them slipping away. He had to hold on to them tightly. 

He wondered about when Sorey returned, how their relationship would play out. Would they act like those lovers now? 

He found himself smiling a rare smile. 

Deep down he dared to hope.


	6. Page six

The crater of Artorious Throne was a lush ravine, with clematis, bluebells, and perennials scattered throughout the landscape and clinging to the altar that stood in the center. It was a shrine of sorts, to the one who resided there.

He looks solemnly upon his sleeping form. It was not familiar, no; he has many pleasant memories of his peaceful Sorey sleeping next to him. 

They shared a bed so often that it would be something he could never forget, whether they kicked and pushed each other around the bed or slept just a little too close. The natural rise and fall of Sorey's toned form breathing, the way his mouth was always a little gape that occasionally omitted tiny noises, the fluttering of eyelashes when he was dreaming and soon to wake. 

Yet this Sorey in front of him was in an unnatural slumber, deep and pensive.

He had etched those memories in his head without realizing he had even done it, yet other things were slowly being pushed away. He tried but he couldn't remember the colour of Sorey's eyes. He just remembered how they shined. He longed to see those eyes again.

Mikelo lay his forehead into his fold arms, which were rested on the cold stone altar. Just close enough to Sorey to feel him there, next to him.

He closed his eyes and prayed for sleep.

~

Sorey clung to that hand like it was his lifeline and pulled the man back to safety.

He was feeling almost intimidated by the beauty that was before him and was lost for words. He was everything he remembered. He just smiled at him.

Surprised to feel himself knocked down onto his back and Mikleo’s weight pushing against him and around him in the tightest embrace. 

“Hey Mikleo” He spoke softly, lifting his arm to touch the back of the now grown-up seraph’s head. He could feel the lightness of the cyan tipped hair that was pooling around his neck and face and slowly started to run his fingers through the long white locks.

It wasn’t long before the flood of Mikleo’s emotions came weighing upon him.

“I’m sorry I took so long” Sorey patted Mikleos back tentatively, trying to offer as much comfort as he could before he himself started to get tearful. 

He felt a pang of tenderness in his chest as Mikleo’s hand moved to his face and cupped it delicately. His glassy violet eyes appeared to have so much to say, but Mikleo had still not uttered a word. Sorey suddenly felt very nervous, and possibly overwhelmed, so he began to fidget underneath his friend. 

"You've gotten heavy now, Mikleo" He told him, which was met with an indigent look from Mikleo before he pushed Sorey's shoulder in what was likely annoyance and stood up as gracefully as he could manage.

"And you haven't changed a bit, I see" Mikleo stood straight now, brushing the dirt from his usually pristine clothing and blushing ever so slightly.

Still sitting on the hard stone floor, he looked up at his seraph, with a smile that he couldn't seem to shake off.

"Of course" Sorey replied "You wouldn't want it any other way."

Sorey was sure, as he continued to watch Mikleo become increasingly flustered trying to make himself as presentable as possible, that he heard the phrase uttered very quietly behind a hidden smile "I've missed you."

~

His eyes were green. That deep colour that reminded him of rolling hills in Elysia, the leaves that filled the trees in the Aroundlight forest, the green that reminded him of home.

Yes, he was home.

(You put my feet back on the ground.)


	7. Page seven

(Wish me luck tonight...)

Elysia hadn’t changed much over the centuries Sorey was asleep. Mikleo kept it that way on purpose. He wanted them to have something they could go back to, something that felt like home. 

With Gramps passing, there was a need for a seraph to take up the domain. Cydia, another water seraph, took it on and made the place her own. She was the strongest of the seraph who remained there, aside from himself. She brought the smell of rain.

Just outside the gates, he found Sorey looking wistfully at the panning landscape that could be viewed from the cliff's edge. He couldn’t help feeling that wave of nostalgia lapping over him, the hazy feeling of remembering something that once was but will likely never be again. Nostalgia was a dangerous thing. 

He was happy here. That made Mikleo feel like he had done the right thing.

Mikleo gliding up to Sorey’s side. They both stood in peaceful silence taking in the same view together.

“Remember, that I had something I wanted to tell you that time before we left for the final battle with Heldalf?” He broke in the silence.

Sorey looked down, with a thoughtful glance and one hand cupping his chin, then he looked up with a look of realisation. “Oh yeah!” he beamed “are you gonna tell me now?”

It was Mikleo’s turn to look down, scanning the ground as if he would find some answer in the locks of scattered grass and trailing moss.

_I love you._

He could feel Sorey’s gaze on him now, he had been quiet for too long. He glanced up to see the other’s face, now looking a little concerned with a furrowed brow. The moonlight was highlighting the curves and edges of his childhood friend’s face, lighting each turn and he couldn’t help but notice how much his face had changed over the years becoming more and more defined. His eyes then looked over that dark unruly hair, with the one difference Mikleo had obviously noticed since his return, the bright white tips.

He was a sight to behold. So much so, that Mikleo had to turn away and look back out into the vast navy blue blanket which lay just below them.

He lost his nerve, again. 

“Maybe later” was all he could say.

As no protest came from Sorey, he felt a little relieved. 

The silence lasted a few moments before Mikleo decided that it was making things too difficult to stay. He stood up then held out a hand to Sorey.

“Come walk with me”

They walked at a slow pace, throughout the fields and amongst the ruin walls that were above ground. They spoke about the things they had experienced in these exact locations as a child, reminiscing completely about their childhood.

“‘It feels so strange, y’know,” Sorey spoke, his voice was so dearly missed that Mikleo could feel himself reveling in it as he spoke “everything feels so new and different, but I can remember everything and every place, every person,”

“Every memory,” Sorey said the last part quite wistfully as if his mind had started to wander to those memories.

Mikleo listened, trying to understand the words that his friend was telling him. He thinks he understands himself, Sorey has been born anew, but with memories of a life he had lived a very long time ago. Surreal, it what it must be.

He realised how strong Sorey was, and still is. The weight that he bore, without the smallest bit of doubt, that he seemed to always end up baring alone. He stood to face Sorey, who was still deep in thought.

“I love you.”

With determination in his voice, he spoke those words aloud. As if he was desperately trying to make his resolve. He meant it in the purest way.

Sorey turned to look him straight in the eye, then looked away.

He effortlessly closed that gap between them, in the way he always did, and grabbed hold of his hand, interlocking their fingers. A gesture which brought back so many more memories. 

Looking into his eyes once more, he gave Mikleo his deepest, warmest smile.

“I know.” 

_You know?_

Then before he could know what was happening, Sorey's face was in front of his own and their lips ghosted, for the longest moment, before they met. Sorey’s kiss was healing. Soft yet slightly chapped lips that seemed to meet perfectly with his own, that brought life back to him like he had been dead for centuries.

There was another wave of nostalgia. They were 14 again. 

He didn't know when his eyes closed, but he opened them again when he felt Sorey move away and the cool night air crept back in around his face. 

“Idiot” was all that Mikleo could think to say, continuing to look out in front of him and not anywhere near Sorey.

Sorey threw his back his head and allowed the lightest laugh to bubble out of him.

~

His head was spinning with the heady feeling of love. 

This kind of love.

Sorey’s skin was laid upon his own, his breath warming his face, lips met with that tenderness he felt earlier, but there was more, so much more of everything.

He felt hands everywhere grabbing his neck and pulling at his hair. There was a feverishness to it. The heat lingered in the air between them and everywhere else. And the smell that was so definitely Sorey. He kept letting out tiny noises when Sorey’s tongue clashed with his own. He would be embarrassed, but he had waited so long for this moment. 

He never imagined anything could feel like this. Like they were closer than they have ever been. Melting into one body once again.

This was too much to take. 

Mikleo broke the kiss to come up for some air. Which helped a little, until Sorey continued to kiss down his neck and down to his chest. Sorey’s slightly calloused hands trailed down his arms and around his waist which sent electric shocks running down his spine. Sorey seemed to be calling his name as he did this in between kisses, like some kind of mantra.

He felt like he was going to explode.

Feeling like he couldn't take this anymore, he used all his strength to grab the stronger man by the arms and push him onto his back, giving Mikleo the opportunity to breathe. With both of his knees tucked into the brunette’s thighs, he leaned down to kiss him again. This time crushing his lips to Sorey’s out of what seemed to be a necessity.

“Mikleo,” Sorey breathed into his ear, yet it sounded like he was asking. Mikleo made a noise of acknowledgment but continued planting kisses along his lover's neck. “I never said it back,” 

Mikleo slowed and pulled himself up slightly using his arms wrapped around Sorey's shoulders. He looked to him in those green eyes. Waiting.

“I love you too.”

Mikleo’s smile bloomed through his body. He couldn't help himself.

“I know.” 

(I want to be with you always)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I will finish the story here. I started writing this as a series of drabbles which is why it is not very consistent! I actually only played Tales of Zestiria back in May of this year, but I fell _hard_ into this Sormik hell so... I really felt compelled to write about them.
> 
> I would really love any feedback you could give, as I am eager to write but I have no idea if I am any good or not.
> 
> Overall hope you enjoyed this story, and thank you for any support you have given x


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